


Alligators

by crankyoldman, drakonlily



Series: Stag [7]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Baby I got your number, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-17 15:25:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1392679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crankyoldman/pseuds/crankyoldman, https://archiveofourown.org/users/drakonlily/pseuds/drakonlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A final warning that would be ignored. Set after Dr Du Maurier escaped.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alligators

″I did not expect you to call me. I swung by your hom-″

″Of course you did, Hannibal. This is … will be our final contact. Will Graham is playing you, Doctor Lecter.″ 

″Perhaps, Doctor Du Maurier, you simply do not understand romance. Allegiance or... the dance, as it were.″ 

There was a sigh on the other line ″I would postulate that you, in fact are misconstruing love with obsession.″

″What, in its most base level, is the difference, do you think? Isn't love, in and of itself a form of obsession?″ 

″By definition, obsession is unwanted, but you know that, Hannibal.″ 

″So if it is not unwanted, obsession is love.″ Lecter spoke with a flippant finality that sharply contrasted his next question, ″did you enjoy it, taking the life of the patient that attacked you?″ 

Du Maurier made a sound as though the line of questioning was entirely expected. ″We all in some misshapen form, enjoy killing. The power that it gives us allows us to feel some manner of control over the way our own lives are sure to come to an end. However, that does not mean that killing others is an option.″

″When you are in love, perhaps the options change.″ Lecter's voice sounded angry, somewhat defiant. ″Have you never loved someone before? You're barely even a good friend.″

There was pure flatness in the response ″my... loyalties as they were, Hannibal have limits.″

″I am going to find you, you know. You calling is enough for me to know that I will be able to. Perhaps you too, are looking for a way to get out. Endings can be done by our own orchestration.″ 

Her tone, by contrast left no room for conjecture, ″in calling you, I am hoping to get you to realize that you are going to loose control, Hannibal. Your person suit has a loose stitch that a nail named Will Graham has started to tug loose.″

″Why warn me? If you are so certain that I'm loosing my stitching?″ 

″Will Graham, while innocent, may never get out of prison, Hannibal, not without you exposing yourself.″ It wasn't an answer, more of a steamroller of information, a truth-ism that Lecter wasn't going to allow exposed to others. 

″Expose myself to what, exactly?″ 

″The truth″ she spoke simply, plainly, as if the artistry before her was nothing more than a crayon drawing. 

″What does that mean to me, Doctor Du Maurier?″ 

″That means that Will Graham will not be your Divine Executioner. I reclused myself for my own safety Hannibal. I am calling for yours.″

″I would be touched in other circumstances, but between the two of us, I am not the one who should be careful.″

The threat was not ignored, merely understood as a fact that did not need discussed. ″The only way that you can have what you want is to agree to be an equal in a relationship and not the master.″

Lecter's grip on his cellular phone tightened. There was a period where his breath hitched, the undercurrent of tension nearly broke free of his placid surface – an ancient alligator finally waking to devour the exterior built above it. ″Interesting theory. I have to go, Dr. Du Maurier, do take care of yourself wherever you are.″ With that, the call was ended. 

From her seat on the bench at the train station Dr Du Maurier sighed and dropped the pay-by-minute phone into the garbage. ″You as well, Hannibal″.


End file.
